“Cherub.” Kirk grumbled her name as he prowled toward her. “Who said you could leave me?” He wrapped his arms around her from behind and crossed his forearms over her breasts. “You’re also standing in front of the window where anyone might see you.”
“There is no one about at the moment.” Arms stretched high, she allowed the morning sun’s golden rays to bathe her body.
“You’re completely captivating with your sparkly skin and will draw attention in no time.” He shuffled her to the side of the window, pressed her front against the wall and nuzzled her neck from behind her. He licked the mark he’d placed on the side of her neck, his erect shaft brushing her bottom. “Ignore that.”
“There is naught about you I could ever ignore.”
“Or I about you.” He twirled her around, caught her up in his arms and walked with her to the golden curtained ambry. Once he set her back on her feet, he searched through her clothes, selected a gown and laid it on the bed. “You need to dress, and preferably before I end up tossing you back onto that mattress so I can have my wicked way with you.”
“That was hardly a warning if ’twas your intention.” She sidled up against him and his stunning golden eyes rimmed with a glimmer of starburst yellow devoured her.
“I want to eat you.”
“That I would love.”
“Cease tempting me. You’ll be sore and you need some time to heal.” He rubbed his body against hers, the fine dark hairs on his chest tickling her nipples and making them stiffen. Groaning, he threaded his fingers deep into her hair and played with the long golden blond strands. “My bear wants another taste of you.”
“Your bear is welcome to taste any part of me he pl—”
He kissed her, deeply and wildly, until their breath mingled as one and completely scattered her thoughts.
“I, ah…” She shook her head to clear it. “My muscles ached upon awakening, but those pains are now gone. There is no need to deny either of us what we desire.”
“You’re not being very helpful right now.” He scooped a shift from the ambry shelf and slid it over her head. The thin white cotton slithered down her body and brushed her ankles. “I won’t make you hurt any more than I already have.”
“I truly dinnae hurt.” She tip-toed her fingers down his chest and followed the thin trail of hair that passed between his abs and thickened into lush curls around his shaft. Gently, she cupped his balls and they tightened and drew upward. His cock lengthened and she encircled her hand around it. Looking into his eyes, she murmured, “Kiss me again.”
“You need time to recover.” He picked up her gown and over her head it went. She got a mouthful of cream silk before he swept in behind her and cinched the bodice’s stays in place.
Burgundy ribbons fluttered from her waist as she spun about. “Now you’ll just need to undress me again.”
“I will, tonight, after you’ve had some time to heal.” With a determined yet sinfully delicious look on his face, he picked up her gown’s matching slippers from the ambry shelf and knelt at her feet. He lifted one foot, his hand roaming under her skirts and up her calf. She seized his broad shoulders and held on while he slid her slippers on. “I also need to talk with my brothers. Colin MacKenzie wanted a woman from the village, and from Joseph’s account of his conversation with the warriors we fought, that woman was Amelia.”
“Amelia is now safe.”
“Amelia is also a time-walker, one of only two currently here in this time. You also popped up out of nowhere during the battle and our enemy saw you. Just like Amelia, you too need to remain well guarded.”
“No one can capture or contain me, no’ even you.”
“There isn’t a person alive who can’t be held against their will.” He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. “Even you, my elusive imp.”
“You are so frustrating.” She crossed to the looking glass propped at the end of the side table against the wall and ran a brush through her hair.
“Keeping you safe is imperative.” He collected his traveling bag from on top of the trunk and flipped open the leather flap. From within, he retrieved his clothes then donned a pair of black leather pants. He tugged his sturdy black boots on, strapped his sword belt and wrist daggers in place and eyed her. “I will always protect you, even from yourself if I must.”
“’Tis also my duty to protect you.”
“Which reminds me. You haven’t actually explained exactly how my immortality now works. I don’t doubt there will be another battle and I need to know specifics.” Still shirtless, he strode to the side table and lathered soap in the basin of water. He smeared the bubbles along his jaw then slid his wrist dirk free and in the looking glass, bent to the task of shaving.
“Since I now hold a piece of your soul, you are as such an extension of me.” Unable not to touch him, she ran her fingers through his silky shoulder-length black hair. “For as long as my heart beats, I can hold you to this Earth. I can also heal any wounds you might suffer from, in the same way I heal myself, including the soreness I had this morn. Each time I become as one with the air, when I reappear, each and every part of me is reformed. All wounds heal within the blink of an eye.”
“How much energy does it take for you to transform me as you do yourself?” In a firm line, he ran his blade from his ear to his chin, first on one side of his jaw and then the other. His deft and precise strokes held her captive.
“You are a part of me now, just as I’m a part of you. To transform you as I do myself will take very little effort or energy.”
“Show me.” He faced her, held his blade to his bicep and sliced his skin. Blood flowed and rushed down to his elbow.
“Kirk, no!” She shimmered into air and took him with her then reappeared and grasped his arm. She wiped the blood away, the cut now gone. “Dinnae do that again.” She slapped his chest.
“Tell me exactly how you fare.” His mind moved through hers as he searched within her thoughts for an answer.
“I fare just fine.” She huffed and paced the chamber. “That’s if you ignore my now sudden bout of anger, which you shouldnae.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you, but I had to check how this immortality now works.” Facing the looking glass once again, he carefully swiped his blade down his neck and in the small space between his nose and lips then done, washed the remaining suds away. “Are you truly well?” he asked as he peered over his shoulder at her, concern deep in his gaze.
“No long-lasting harm can ever come to me. Rest is all I’ve ever needed to restore any lost energy.” She scooped up a clean white shirt from his bag, returned to him and stroked down his healed arm. She’d make sure he never cut himself again.
“Do you feel well enough rested after last night?” He leaned his leather-clad butt on the edge of the side table, snagged her around the waist and tugged her in between his spread legs. “I kept you up for far too long.”
“I am very well rested”—she hauled his shirt over his head—“although still mad.”
“Then I’ll just have to kiss you until your mad spell dis—”
A rap sounded. “It’s Nessa. I ordered a tray and brought it up.”
“Just a moment, Nessa.” She freed herself from Kirk, unbolted the door and opened it.
Nessa bustled in wearing a forest-green gown and a white lace shawl, her red hair wisped with gray pulled back and contained within a low bun at her nape. She placed the tray on the table and glanced at Kirk. “Your brothers wished to see you. They both await you downstairs in the chief’s solar with Gilleoin.”
“Then I’d best join them.” He strode toward Cherub, his gaze a heated one as he caught her hands in his. “Don’t remain mad at me for too long.”
“Then dinnae cut yourself again. Go and join your brothers.” She motioned toward the door.
“I’ll go but only because I must.” He popped a kiss on her forehead, swiped his deerskin padded cotun from his bag and strode out the door, his
next words whispering through her mind. “Just so we’re clear, you’re not to go anywhere without me. No rushing off to aid your kin unless you take me as well.”
“We shall see. Let me know how your meeting with Gilleoin goes.” Yesterday when she’d spoken to Nessa about needing to ferret out information on Colin MacKenzie, she’d gotten sidetracked with meeting the ladies and then speaking with Kirk. Now, that need to find out exactly what Colin MacKenzie was up to, rolled through her with fierce strength.
“I mean it, Cherub. Where you go, is where I go.”
“You need to have more faith in my abilities.”
“I have the utmost faith in your abilities, but consider my request an order. I won’t be parted from you, not for any reason.”
“I have no’ been ordered about in over a thousand years. I dinnae intend to be ordered about now.” She plunked into the seat across from Nessa, her heart an aching mess as the distance between her and Kirk grew. “I miss you.”
“I miss you, too.”
“Are you well, my dear?” Seated, Nessa poured tea from the pot then nudged a cup toward her. “I’m always here if you need to speak.”
“The mated bond is so very strong and illogically all-consuming. I must care for my people as needed, which I willnae be prevented from doing.” Legs crossed, she selected an oat cake from the tray and munched on it. “Have you seen Amelia this morn?”
“She is breaking her fast with Olaf and Joseph in the great hall. Dinnae fear for them. They are here behind Gilleoin’s walls and will remain so until all has settled and their safety assured. I also give you my word, that I’ll remain alert for any visions, although there have been no more since the last regarding the MacKenzie chief. I certainly wish I’d had forewarning of Joseph’s kidnapping.”
“You cannae control your visions any more than I can control all that happens throughout time. People have freewill, and as such things are always in motion.”
“Aye, we can only watch what we ourselves do and ensure the choices we make are sound.” She lathered a slice of bread with raspberry jam and took a bite.
“Cherub?” Another knock. “It’s Isla. Arabel’s with me.”
“One moment.” With a swish of her silk skirts, she rose and opened the door.
Isla gasped, her gaze going wide and her jaw dropping. “Wow. Your skin truly does sparkle. Iain told me it was an incredible sight to see, and it surely is.”
“Oh, how striking you are.” Arabel clutched her cherry colored skirts and swept around her. “You’re so wondrous to behold. Of course I’ve heard the firstborn within the royal line holds glittering skin, but to see it—well, this is a first.”
“I’m also the last within the firstborn line to hold such skin, although I wish to be my true self amongst both of you and your mates.” She motioned them toward the table. “Nessa and I were just breaking our fast. Have either of you eaten?”
“We’ve just done so in the great hall, although I’m still rather peckish.” Isla bustled inside, pulled out a chair and sat before the table. “It seems I’m growing very hungry cubs.”
“Then help yourself to whatever you wish.” Cherub collected the corner armchair for Arabel and offered it to her. Arabel thanked her and sat.
“My hungry cubs seem to want an inordinate amount of meat right now.” Isla selected a slice of bread and added a large wedge of beef and a sliver of cheese, her yellow gown with its long embroidered sleeves swaying gently over her wrists. She munched and moaned. “Mmm, this is just what I—they needed.”
“Now that we’re all here, I have good news I wish to share.” Cherub picked up her tea cup and sipped the hot brew. “Last eve, I spoke the spell needed to bind Kirk’s soul to mine. There is none now who can ever part us.”
“That’s the best news.” Isla beamed.
“Oh aye, you have my most heartfelt congratulations as well.” Arabel clapped. “I’m so happy for you both.”
“Thank you, yet even in my happiness, I cannae forget that there remains a very real threat looming on the horizon. The Chief of MacKenzie intends to rule these waterways, and it appears he hopes to do so with the aid of a time-walker. Which means I need to know exactly what his coming plans are, then to halt him afore he can see to them. He must be stopped.”
“I agree.” Fire flared to life on Arabel’s fingertips, her tone impassioned. “My apologies, but any talk of Colin MacKenzie always sets my anger to rising and fire to flaring. He cannae be allowed to harm anymore of our kin.”
“I detest the man too, my dear, and you’ve no need to apologize.” Nessa shuffled her chair closer to Arabel’s and squeezed her granddaughter’s shoulder.
“Then I shall leave immediately and ensure he cannae harm another soul.” Cherub stood and glanced at Arabel and Isla. “When I am as one with the air, I can slip in and out of the smallest of spaces. I shall return once I know exactly what is going on.”
“You must take care,” Isla murmured as she rose to her feet.
“I shall.” She melted into a mist and flowed out the open window. “Kirk?”
“I’m here. Is something wrong?”
“Nay, I just needed to hear your voice.” Over the treetops, she soared then swept high into the sky, each breath she took coming harder and faster the farther she moved away from her mate. Pain lanced through her chest, so strongly and so swiftly she was forced to slow her ascent. The castle far below was a mere pinprick of gray amongst the jewel blues of the loch and the lush greens of the forest.
Confusion swirled through her mate’s mind and raced along their link. “I can sense distance between us. Where are you?”
She rose through a layer of puffy white cloud, the air stirring and swirling all about. “There are certain matters I must attend to.”
“We spoke about this. Where you go, is where I go.”
“You’re busy with your brothers right now and I didnae wish to take you away from them.” She was also used to being alone. “You must give me some time to accept all these new changes. I have acted alone for so long.”
Swiftly, she sped across the loch and along the land toward the northeast. Being as one with her element allowed her far faster movement, and right now, there could be no more delay.
“Soul bound mates should never be separated. We’re a pair, best together and never apart. I’m here to aid you.”
“You’re right, although I’m almost where I need to be.” She soared down through the sudden stillness in the air and skimmed the gray mist sitting low over the water, the fortified walls of the MacKenzie’s keep shrouded within them. “How are your brothers this morn?”
“On edge now since I am. Tell me exactly where you are.”
“The MacKenzie wants a time-walker, and I need to know why. Until he is halted, Amelia and all those within the village remain in danger. That I cannae allow.” She breezed over the foggy curtain wall and into the bailey. Below, men trained in battle leathers, dust pluming at their feet and mingling with the hazy air, their claymores clashing and each strike ringing loud in her ears. Slowly, she circled the tower house then slipped inside the front door of the keep as a lad in breeches with suspender straps looped over his shoulders swept dirt from the doorway, outside.
“You’re headed to the MacKenzie’s lair?”
“Nay, I am already here.” She sent a surge of warmth and love down their link, then whizzed through the hall holding three maids busily cleaning trestle tables before slipping underneath the chief’s solar door and inside his inner sanctum. She’d visited this castle a number of times over the centuries, for one reason or another and as such knew her way about well enough. She breezed around the room holding an oak desk, a tall polished chest with a dozen or more drawers, and an armoire containing the chief’s armor inside. At the narrow stained glass window overlooking the inner courtyard, she halted and drew her form back together. Cloaked and assured none beyond the window would be able to see her, she gripped the windowsill. Outside, fog swir
led and the MacKenzie chief in his belted plaid appeared at the base of the stone stairs leading up to the barbican. He was unmistakable with his formidable size and grizzly features, his biceps bulging and legs almost as thick as tree trunks. “I see Colin MacKenzie. Thankfully he’s here and no’ attempting to harm one of our own right now.”
“I’m on my way with my brothers. Stay hidden, Cherub. Don’t let a soul see you.”
“There is no need for you to set sail to these shores. I willnae be here long.” She stepped across to the chief’s desk where a quill and ink bottle sat between a pile of the seneschal’s accounts and three rolls of parchment tied with red ribbon. Carefully, she unraveled the first roll and opened it. “I’ll do a quick search and see what I can discover. He intends to take control of Matheson land and I need to know how and why a time-walker is important to ensuring his ultimate plan is made successful.”
“Iain, Finlay and I are at the sea-gate.”
“You dinnae need to come.”
“You are mine to protect, and I’ll do exactly that.”
“What you are, is impossible.” Now she was on a time limit. There was no way she’d allow her mate anywhere near the MacKenzie’s heavily guarded keep. She scanned the first parchment holding dozens of names, all scrolling downward from two. Oh my. Her mother and father’s names sat at the top of what was clearly a family tree. Each of their children’s names written along with their offspring and so forth down the scroll.
“What’s wrong, Cherub? I can sense the confusion in your mind.”
“Colin MacKenzie holds my genealogy. I’m no’ sure how he would have gotten this being that my kin reside beyond the veil.” She continued to scan the names and tapped Samuel’s name. Samuel, her youngest brother, had been the one to visit the village over two-hundred years ago. He’d fallen in love with the chief’s daughter and wed her. There he’d lived, his line of descendants remaining strong at the village. She unraveled the other two rolls and frowned. Jeremiah and Amelia’s ancestries were recorded on those. “Kirk, there is more at play here than just the MacKenzie’s desire to have a time-walker and to take Gilleoin’s land. He has no’ only researched my family line, but also Amelia and Jeremiah’s. I’m missing something, although I dinnae know yet what.”
Highlander's Seduction (The Matheson Brothers Book 3) Page 11
